PC-I of Shahdara Dam to be completed this month
ISLAMABAD: PC-I of the proposed Shahdara Dam is going to be completed this month as Capital Development Authority (CDA) wants early start of work on the project.
CDA officials said the consultant has been preparing PC-I which is likely to be completed during the second week of this month. After approval of PC-I, the CDA will go for the tendering process.
They said that the proposed dam will be built in the Shahdara area and will have the capacity of up to 10 million gallons of water per day for Islamabad. Officials said that for construction of the dam, CDA will have to acquire more than 30 acres of land.
“On direction of Interior Minister and CDA Chairman, we are making all out efforts for early start of this project. We are hopeful for early start of this project,” said a director of CDA.
He said that focus was also being paid on other proposed dams including Chinot Dam which will be built in the catchment area of Simly Dam and Mega Dotara Dam (with proposed capacity of 72mgd and water will be shared between Islamabad and Rawalpindi), which will be constructed upstream of Kahnpur Dam. However, on priority, all efforts are afoot to start Shahdara dam first.
“For Shahdara dam, Wapda conducted a feasibility study and now our consultant Nespak is preparing PC-I. This project will be built under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode,” said a deputy director. To a query, he said the real timeline for completion of this project will be reflected in PC-I, but “I guess, once started, this small level of dam can be constructed within two years.”
It is relevant to note here that residents of Islamabad have long faced water shortages as the CDA currently supplies around 70mgd from its three main sources against an estimated demand of 220mgd. The rural population largely depends on bore water and other small sources.
Over the past three decades, no major new water source has been developed despite a sharp increase in the city’s population, resulting in severe water shortages. The underground water table has also declined in many areas. In several localities, particularly Sector H-13 and Ghouri Town, residents depend entirely on water tankers.
The CDA during the last around three decades did not pay any heed towards construction of at least small dams or explore new water sources to meet the need of city. On the other hand, during this period, a large number of road-related projects were carried out. Even, during the last two years, CDA launched mega road and bridge projects worth billions of rupees, some are currently in progress and officials said many more are being planned. But water sector remained neglected. However, CDA officials said on the direction of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the incumbent management of CDA had been working to start three proposed dams. Recently, in his media talk, the Interior Minister had announced construction of new dams, adding that besides construction of dams, rusted pipelines of existing water network will also be replaced. Subsequently, while chairing a meeting, Mr Naqvi had directed the CDA to expedite pre-construction process for early start of these dams.